Gretchen Duhaime JD is a teacher of Active Dreaming who works with lawyers. I was delighted when she told me that, because she is often asked about the value of our work, she has come up with a “bullet list” of the benefits of Active Dreaming that she has personally experienced. She has given me permission to post this here:

–          I had frequent nightmares from childhood until my first dream workshop. I haven’t had one since.

–          A sleep dream alerted me to a possible complication with my sister’s pregnancy. I delicately shared the information I had, which likely saved her life.

–          Dreamwork helped me make the impossible possible – including being able to finish at the top of my first-year class and earn a 50% scholarship to law school.

–          After a close family friend passed away, I dreamed of him in a beautiful new home, similar to the one he had built with his wife during his illness. This image comforted his wife and daughters, and they still thank me years later.

–          I used techniques from Active Dreaming to have a completely natural, pain-free VBAC  [vaginal birth after C-section] with my daughter.

In her programs to raise consciousness among members of the legal profession, Gretchen is now offering programs and counseling on “Soul Recovery for Lawyers”. Here’s her rationale:

“Soul Recovery for Lawyers. I love the feeling of these words, and this phrase. To me, it addresses the ways law school changes its students; training them to “think like a lawyer” and strip away both autonomy and community. Once in practice many lawyers stay in a career that is financially lucrative but offers little else. They count the days until they can leave for something better, often waiting too long, until the only option they can see is to leave the law altogether. Then they go in search of their souls, of finding a new life without the pressures and expectations of law practice. That’s why I’m asking the question: What if you could feel good about being a lawyer, and be fulfilled in your work?”

Yes, lawyers have souls too, and this work is very much needed!